Black Sunlight
by Dambudzo Marechera
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In this dark and deeply radical novel, Dambudzo Marechera offers a visceral account of a photojournalist's entanglement with a terrorist organisation. In an unnamed totalitarian state, the members of Black Sunlight - a group of violent anarchists - are the only ones fighting for change and justice. As their actions push the country further towards chaos, journalist Christian records it all through the lens of his camera. Christian's life so far has been one of immense struggle and show more alienation. So when he becomes tangled in the Black Sunlight uprising, he is determined to remain a bystander and nothing more; to capture their actions without praise or condemnation. In evocative flashes of sex, violence, war, and myth, Christian's story explodes in a labyrinthine plot, told through a chaotic stream-of-consciousness that mirrors the nation's crumbling climate. Black Sunlight is a piercing insight into the darkness of the human psyche and a raw examination of a nation in battle against itself - where everything political turns deeply personal. 'Complex, challenging - and uniquely potent.' Guardian 'A writer in constant quest for his real self.' Wole Soyinka. show lessTags
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GENIUS IN FULL FLOWER
Dambudzo Marechera could transform everyday language into a tortured scream for sanity or mold it into a seductive poetry of passionate need and joyful determination. The extremes of political chaos and spiritual urgency that characterized 1970s Zimbabwe illuminate the pages of BLACK SUNLIGHT with unblinking honesty and desperately clinging hope.
This small masterpiece, along with his Guardian-prize winning HOUSE OF HUNGER, is one of the most powerful books ever penned by a Zimbabwean writer and gives testimony to why so many readers worldwide are "discovering" Marechera's prose and poetry during this 21st-century resurgence of interest in his work. BLACK SUNLIGHT is a book for lovers of serious accomplished show more literature, and although Marechera's style has drawn comparison to such authors as Wole Soyinka, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett, his genius is really singular and deserves to be recognized as such. One can only imagine what masterworks were lost to the world after he died of AIDS, when his genius was in full flower, at the age of 35 in 1987.
by Aberjhani
author of I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY
and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE show less
Dambudzo Marechera could transform everyday language into a tortured scream for sanity or mold it into a seductive poetry of passionate need and joyful determination. The extremes of political chaos and spiritual urgency that characterized 1970s Zimbabwe illuminate the pages of BLACK SUNLIGHT with unblinking honesty and desperately clinging hope.
This small masterpiece, along with his Guardian-prize winning HOUSE OF HUNGER, is one of the most powerful books ever penned by a Zimbabwean writer and gives testimony to why so many readers worldwide are "discovering" Marechera's prose and poetry during this 21st-century resurgence of interest in his work. BLACK SUNLIGHT is a book for lovers of serious accomplished show more literature, and although Marechera's style has drawn comparison to such authors as Wole Soyinka, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett, his genius is really singular and deserves to be recognized as such. One can only imagine what masterworks were lost to the world after he died of AIDS, when his genius was in full flower, at the age of 35 in 1987.
by Aberjhani
author of I MADE MY BOY OUT OF POETRY
and ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HARLEM RENAISSANCE show less
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Cooper
79 works; 1 member
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9+ Works 403 Members
The writings of this precocious but short-lived literary talent from Zimbabwe have been described as "the work of a tortured genius." His work reflects a passionate concern for Zimbabwe and Africa in general, and brilliantly combines elements of realism and fantasy. His writing is very introspective, with a keen interest in exploring the inner show more workings of his protagonists. He does not romanticize the African past nor glorify the African personality. Yet, while his work does not seem preoccupied with inequities in African society, it does display a deep disillusionment and cynicism. An element of resignation reveals, on closer examination, an attempt to hide the sensitivity of his characters, whose behavior can be seen as a defense mechanism against the chaos, senselessness, and brutality of life. Marechera's first published work, "The House of Hunger" (1979), received the 1979 Guardian Prize for Fiction, while his posthumously published collection of writings, "The Black Insider and Other Fragments," was selected for honorable mention by the 1991 Noma Award Committee. In addition to "The House of Hunger," Marechera also published "Black Sunlight" before his untimely death in 1987. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- Black Sunlight
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- Members
- 81
- Popularity
- 390,697
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.17)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1
